Anta Toros

Anta Toros — Biography

For more than six decades, Anta Toros, born Antaram Keşiş, worked in theater and film as a Turkish actress of Armenian descent. Cast most often as tough, villainous women, she became widely known for roles in Kara Melek, Çocuklar Duymasın, Acı Hayat, Yarım Elma and Nizama Adanmış Ruhlar, appearing altogether in over forty-five films and series. Born in Istanbul in 1948, she lost her father as a child; her family opposed an acting career, but she was drawn to the stage through school productions. After Saint Benoit French High School she studied further at the Institut Montcalme in Switzerland. She entered amateur theater in 1965, trained at Genco Erkal's Dostlar Theater, and turned professional in 1971 with the Gülriz Sururi-Engin Cezzar Theater, later also performing with the Ali Poyrazoğlu and Nisa Serezli-Tolga Aşkıner companies. In 1979 she moved to Los Angeles with her husband and daughter for theater workshops, and after returning to Turkey taught acting at the Ali Poyrazoğlu Theater and served on the jury of the Üstün Akmen Theater Awards. Late in her career she appeared in the 2022 film Hayvan and, alongside Halil Ergün, in Yaşam Üçgeni, completed in 2025. She was married to actor-director Misak Toros until his death in 2010, a marriage of forty-three years that produced one daughter. Anta Toros died of stomach cancer in Bodrum on 30 August 2025 and was buried beside her husband at Şişli Armenian Cemetery.